Analyzing MLB Wild Card postseason matchups
Bob Nightengale breaks down each of the four Wild Card matchups to kick off the 2025 MLB postseason.
Entering its fourth year, Major League Baseball‘s new playoff format featuring the best-of-three wild card series has already created some memorable moments and impressive upsets.
Last year’s World Series participants, the Los Angeles Dodgers and New York Yankees, find themselves in the extra round of games for the first time. The Yankees host the Boston Red Sox in the Bronx, the latest postseason meeting in baseball’s most storied rivalry.
The Cincinnati Reds visit Dodger Stadium, the Chicago Cubs play the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field and the Detroit Tigers head to Cleveland to face the Guardians. Things get underway with a quadruple-header on Tuesday, Sept. 30.
Here’s how the USA TODAY Sports MLB writers and editors see MLB’s wild card series shaking out:
MLB wild card predictionsYankees vs. Red SoxBob Nightengale: Yankees in 3Gabe Lacques: Yankees in 2Jesse Yomtov: Red Sox in 3Guardians vs. TigersBob Nightengale: Guardians in 3Gabe Lacques: Tigers in 2Jesse Yomtov: Guardians in 2Dodgers vs. RedsBob Nightengale: Dodgers in 2Gabe Lacques: Dodgers in 2Jesse Yomtov: Dodgers in 3Cubs vs. PadresBob Nightengale: Cubs in 3Gabe Lacques: Padres in 2Jesse Yomtov: Padres in 2